Mona Lisa Smile
by Melodist
Summary: A Misadventures TieIn. Mona Lisa enters into the story and we will learn just what part she played in the creation of the mutagen that transformed the turtles into the mutants they are today. Chapter 3 is up.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**

**Author's Note:** Ok, this story is a tie-in for Misadventures of the Mentally Unstable, although most people who haven't read Misadventures will be able to follow along anyway. You just may be slightly confused as to what the point of this story is. So I encourage you to go read Misadventures, although it doesn't need to be read first since none of my OC's will make an appearance here.

Now, before we get started, a quick note on the universe I'm working in:

In my universe, Professor Jordan Perry (movie-verse) did indeed create the mutagen, but I'm ignoring the other events of the movie. He never met the turtles, and is unaware of their existence.

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**Mona Lisa Smile**

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**Chapter 1**

_**Present Time**_

She'd been running for almost a year now, and to tell the truth… she was damned tired of it. Her father would have reprimanded her for even thinking such language… but her father was dead, and she was alone. Pulling the trench coat tighter around herself to ward off the chilly night air, Mona shivered and sat down under a dark sheltering tree. It was a bad idea to rest, she knew, but her legs were sore from how many miles she'd ran today. She flexed her fingers, the knuckles cracking loudly in the still night air. The sound startled her and she froze, listening for any noise that might indicate her pursuers knew where she was. When there was no response, she relaxed slightly. Someone had been following her for the last few days, but they'd had trouble tracking her once she'd taken to the denser areas of the forest.

Things might not have been so bad if she'd had money. But money was hard to come by and Mona hated to steal unless absolutely necessary. After her father had died, his bank accounts had been frozen. She'd used his bank cards for as long as the ATM's would accept them, but that had only been a few weeks, and she'd only gotten a couple hundred dollars out at most. As hard as she tried to ration the money out, it had only lasted a few months before she was broke and reduced to pilfering what she needed to survive.

Things might also have been easier if she'd been human. Most people didn't take too kindly to green-skinned mutant freaks that wandered into their towns. The tail didn't help much either. She glanced down at the light brown spots that mottled the back of her hands. Mona had vague memories of being human… long ago when she was very young. But they seemed more like dreams of another person; someone not herself. The thick pebbled green skin that covered her body was as familiar to her as her own name; and she couldn't imagine life without her long beautiful tail, the tip of which was now curled around one ankle gently rubbing at an itch inside her sock. The rounded beak that served as her nose and mouth was unusual when compared to normal people's features, but that too was something that she just considered natural now. The dark brown hair that fell to just below her shoulders in a silky straight cascade was the only currently visible remnant of her more human days.

Her positive self image had a lot to do with her father. Even after discovering what had been done to his baby girl, he'd never shunned her in any way. He'd told her every day how beautiful she still was, and that someday other people would see that too. Unfortunately, she had no idea when that someday would come. It seemed like much too far away right now. And the men tracking her certainly didn't want her because she was pretty. They wanted her because she wasn't human.

The people her father had tried to protect her from for 20 years had finally found her and she wasn't sure how much longer she could run from them. At least she thought it was them. It was possible that she'd slipped up somewhere, and someone else had been alerted to her existence. Mona's father had always told her, "Sweetie… there's never a shortage of mad scientists in the world. Always be on guard."

It seemed hopeless, yet she'd never stop running. If those bastards wanted her (and she was sure they would eventually find her), she wouldn't go down without a fight.

The hairs on the back of Mona's neck prickled suddenly and she listened quietly to the night around her. All those little sounds that were the natural activity of the forest had ceased, and she knew she'd been caught. How they found her this quickly, she had no idea, but there was no way out for her now. She knew it as surely as she knew that no one would miss her when she was gone.

Springing up from the ground with a futile determination, Mona sprinted away from the shelter of the tree, not daring to look back over her shoulder. She could hear twigs snapping behind her and despite the weary ache in her muscles, she pushed her legs as hard as she could. It was all for not, though, when she heard the sudden sharp hiss and release of pressure. Three needles hit her in the back of the neck and she stumbled at the unexpected pain.

Twigs tore at the already shredded bottom of her jacket and Mona pitched forward, just barely managing to catch herself with her hands as the poison sucked the strength from her body. They'd overdosed her, she could tell already. It had taken effect too quickly. With an almost pleased smile, Mona prayed to God that the drugs would kill her fast. Better to die now than be subjected to whatever horrors awaited her at the hands of those who had hunted her.

She collapsed to the ground, unable to hold herself up anymore. Soft footsteps stopped just next to her head, but her eyes were already closing. Before she faded from consciousness, Mona could just make out the hardened male voice that had knelt down to examine her face.

"Yes… I think Adair will be pleased with this one."

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End Chapter 1

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**After the fic Notes:** And enter Mona Lisa, the gecko/lizard mutant girl from the original cartoon series. The episode was titled "Raphael Meets His Match", for anyone interested. The only similarity between my Mona and the cartoon Mona is that she was once human who was purposely mutated by a twisted scientist into a lizard. Other than that, I'm completely twisting her background around as you'll see in the next few chapters. 

And to all you who guessed at the characters? Good guesses, but none of you got it right! (That I remember) Muahaha! I'm so sneaky! ...er... yah... so... hope you liked it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the turtles, or their minor characters. I do, however, own a Michelangelo sprinkler, because my roommates decided to indulge my geekiness and bought it as an early birthday present. It makes me so happy. (sniggers) Michelangelo makes me wet! ..ok, sorry. That was a bad joke.

**Author's Note:** Muahahaha. All you people thought that you'd see more of Adair! WRONG! (laughs maniacally) Instead of moving forward, every chapter in this story is going to go back further and further in time! So Mona Lisa's fate will remain unknown until sometime during the Misadventures Sequel. …Aren't I an evil evil person? Yes, this was planned. I'm not purposely holding back on you all, it's just how the story was supposed to go.

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As for the time jumps, 'One year ago', is obviously… one year ago from the first chapter. The next chapter will be 'Eighteen years ago' which means eighteen years from the first chapter, not the second. And so on.

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**Mona Lisa Smile**

**Chapter 2**

_**One year ago**_

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The flashing red light was simply that; a flashing red light. There was nothing particularly special about the light, other than that it was red… and flashing. Mounted on the wall just to the left of the entrance to a private lab, it blinked on and off in a merry fashion as if it wanted everyone to take notice and say, "Wow… look at that flashing red light!" It did its job well. In fact, the flashing red light was doing its job _so_ well, that the only man currently in the lab had been staring at it for the better part of two minutes.

It wasn't the first time the red light had started flashing in the last two years. False alarms weren't unheard of in the lab; there was never a shortage of fumbling interns that accidentally tripped over a security beam. Yet there was something different… something _insistent_ about it this time. Or perhaps it was the fact that it was nearly two in the morning and, other than the security guard, no one was authorized to be in the building.

Professor Jordan Perry finally tore his gaze from the red light and looked over to a set of four monitors mounted on the wall near his desk. He couldn't see any movement as the screens flickered to different views of the multiple levels of the TGRI building, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Whoever 'they' were. Most likely they were some sort of hired guns or assassins. They'd want information from him, of course. But after he gave them what they wanted, he'd be useless. Professor Perry had no intention of giving them anything.

A beep drew his attention to the computer screens glaring brightly in the dim lab. Seventeen years of research had been wiped out of his databases while he was staring at the red light. Seventeen years of blood, sweat, and tears… gone. Just like that. The instant the light had started flashing and he'd felt that uneasy feeling, Perry had hit ten keys in a certain sequence and sent a virus racing through the system that cleared out all memory of the files and folders. He'd been planning for this day while at the same time praying to God that it would never come.

The lab itself was pretty secure. Professor Perry was sure that he had at least twenty minutes before anyone even found their way through the intricate maze of hallways and rooms that made up the 8th floor of the Research department. Even with the proper keycards and passcodes, it took nearly ten minutes to get to his lab from the elevators. Assuming they were using the elevators.

A black speakerphone sat on the desk next to the computer, and Professor Perry cautiously picked it up and listened for the tone, his gaze turning back once more to the security monitors. He heard the dial tone of the private line at the same moment a flash of grey moved passed a camera on the 3rd floor. Yes, they were definitely here.

He quickly dialed a number and pressed the receiver to his ear. While it was ringing, Perry reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. He played nervously with the key while waiting for his daughter to pick up the phone.

"Daddy…?" A sleepy, but slightly panicked voice finally answered.

"Its happening, Mona. They're here." They'd been preparing for this for two years, in the hopes that it would never happen. He'd managed to keep his daughter safe for fifteen years, and then two years ago one of his colleagues had to go and get drunk with the wrong person and let slip that there was a mutant lizard running around, and Professor Jordan Perry knew where she was.

The house she was living in wasn't listed under his name, so no one had found her yet. In order to find Mona, anyone interested would have to find him first… so he'd stayed away from her. In the last two years, he'd only seen his daughter three times, and now… now he was sure he'd never see her again.

"D-daddy?" Her voice grew shaky, and Perry could already feel his heart breaking at the thought of losing his daughter. Or the thought of her losing him.

"Don't worry about me, baby… we knew this would happen, right? We knew…"

"No!" She said suddenly, her voice gaining strength. "No, dad… You're wrong. You've got to be wrong. It's… It's just a false alarm right? They didn't find you! Please… please tell me they didn't find you!" He wanted to tell her that she was right. God, he wanted to tell her that with all his heart, but he couldn't lie to her like that. He couldn't give her false hope.

They'd both known this day would come. He'd tried to hide his tracks; change his name. But he was too easily traced within the scientific community. Mona had begged him to give up his research, but he couldn't have done that either. He wanted to find a cure for her… his first experiment had failed; it had been too rushed, too hasty… too unpredictable. But he'd never given up hope that someday his daughter might be human again. Now though… god, now it would never happen. Now that he knew exactly how very little time he had left to live, Professor Perry realized how much he regretted not doing what Mona had asked. He should have given up the research and disappeared from sight. Protecting her should have been the most important thing to him, not curing her.

There was nothing like a good healthy dose of reality to make a man realize he'd wasted his life on something that wasn't nearly as important as he'd believed.

"Mona… baby… you know what you need to do."

"No! No, daddy! You can make it out, please! Get out of there! Come home, and we'll leave together!"

"Mona…" The panic in her voice broke his heart. "Mona, you need to be strong."

"I don't want to be strong; I want you to be with me! Don't leave me, Daddy, please!"

"The files, Mona… you hav-"

"NO!" She screamed. "No, I wo-"

"Mona Lisa Perry!" He shouted into the phone, much louder and much harsher than he'd meant to. There was a choked gasp from the other end of the line, then silence. He softened his voice, and then continued. "Listen to me, Mona. You know what you need to do. Destroy the files; get rid of all my research. Burn them, and then take my bank cards. It's not safe to stay in that house now, you know that. We don't know how much information they have."

"Daddy, please…"

"I love you, Mona. I always have, you know that, right? You've always been my baby girl…"

"I know…"

"Promise me you'll do everything you can to stay safe. Promise me, Mona."

"I… I promise…"

"You know what we've discussed… there might…" He sighed heavily and glanced at the clock on the wall. Not much time left. "There might be others like you. I can't be sure, but… there might be. Find them, if you can, Mona. If she did this to you, then she might have done it to others."

"Where do I look?" There was a pleading acceptance in her tone, and Professor Perry wanted to tell her everything would be fine… but he knew it wouldn't.

"Anywhere you can. I've given you enough information… You're a brilliant thinker and you're incredible with computers. If anyone can find them, you can. Just be careful, above everything else."

"I will, Dad… I'll be careful."

"Mona… I'm sorry I wasn't there…"

"Don't… don't say that. You've always been here when I need you… Will it… I mean… are you going to be ok?" The quiver in her words said everything that she didn't.

"I'll be fine… I'll be long gone before those bastards find me." A quiet sob met his words and he hushed his daughter softly. "Don't worry about me, Mona. I'll always be watching over you."

She sniffled softly and was silent for a moment. Finally, she whispered into the phone, "I'm going to find her someday, Daddy. I'll find her, and I'll make her suffer for what she did to you and me."

Perry smiled ruefully and looked at the key that he still held in his hand. "I have no doubt you will. Give that bitch hell for me." There was venom in his words at the thought of her, and as much as he hated to curse, the woman deserved it. Even in his death, he wouldn't forgive her for what was done to Mona. "I need to go now, Mona… are you going to be okay?"

She didn't answer right away, but when she did her voice was stronger and the stubborn streak she'd inherited from him shone through. "Yah… yah, I'm going to be okay. I love you, daddy."

"Love you too, sweetie."

He didn't want to hang up the phone. A small part of him was convinced that as long as he could hear his daughter's voice, then everything would be ok. But the blur on the monitor that had just stepped out of the elevator onto the 8th floor told him otherwise. When the phone was finally settled back into its cradle, he took the key he'd been toying with and unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk.

From inside that drawer, he pulled out a small grey box and set it on the desktop with a smell metallic thump. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the lid and stared down at the light blue liquid that glistened in the light of the computer screen. The syringe was resting on a soft foam square, and there couldn't have been more than five drops of liquid inside. It was almost triple the amount needed. But Professor Perry didn't want to leave any room for error.

Delicately lifting the syringe from what almost looked like a small metal coffin, he saw the irony there. Once the needle was under his skin, there was no turning back. No antidote… not that it would matter. Even if there _was_ an antidote, there would be no time to administer it. The poison was fast acting, and there was enough of it in the syringe to drop a horse.

There was a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye, and he jerked his head up. They were here already; faster than he'd expected and standing outside the bulletproof glass that served as a door to his lab. He could see two men, but there were most assuredly more than that roaming around the building. The weapons they carried looked like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie, and he didn't doubt how effective they'd be at breaking down the door.

His lips spread into a slow smile and he held up the syringe. One man started shouting to the other, and though he couldn't hear the words, Perry was sure he understood the gist of them. Before they had time to blast through the door and stop him, he brought the needle to his arm and shoved it in. It slid in smoother than he would have expected, and he pressed the plunger down and injected the poison into his body. Within an instant, he could feel a tightening in his arm, and it rapidly spread to the rest of his body. There was a warm, almost pleasant burning sensation in his veins, and he leaned back into his chair, letting the now empty syringe drop to the floor.

A sudden blast of light surrounded him, and he wasn't sure if it was caused by the explosive effects of the men's weapons, or if he was finally seeing proof of the clichéd 'light at the end of the tunnel'.

Either way, it lasted for only a moment, and then Professor Perry's world slowly faded to black.

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**End Chapter 2** **

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**After the fic notes**: Ok, and the other character is (now obviously) Professor Jordan Perry from the second movie. And before anyone asks, yes, Mona Lisa is his biological daughter. (See, this is where the whole twisted background thing comes into play). And to re-state, he has never met the turtles, and has no idea they even exist. The 'others' he talks about are other people that were mutated, who may, or may not come into play during the Misadventures sequel. I haven't decided yet. And the mysterious 'she' in this chapter? Muahahahaaha. You'll find that out soon.

**Notes to my Reviewers:**

These are going to be kind of short this time, because I'm rather tired, and want to get the chapter posted before bed. (EDIT: Apparently when I say 'short', I mean 'the same size response as normal'. So much for getting to bed early)

**misterfooch: **Hehe. I wasn't sure how many people would remember her! But I always thought she was adorable and desperately wanted her to end up with Raphael! And I just loved that little pink scarf she wore. So I thought she'd be a good addition to my story arch. :)

**Dierdre:** Mona Lisa rules! I can't state often enough how cute I thought she was. And she will definitely play a part in Misadventures! And considering how she's now a captive of Adair in the current timeline… and Adair is possibly after Austin as well… Hmm…. I just _wonder_ how the two of them are going to meet up… (evil grin)

**Reluctant Dragon:** I'm actually trying to decide if I want to buy the old cartoons on DVD. They're releasing them slowly (I think the first two seasons are out), but the Mona Lisa episode isn't available yet. As far as I know, that is. And I've been unable to find any good screen caps from the show. There's a little bit of fan art scattered here and there, but not very much. sigh More people need to learn of the cuteness that was Mona Lisa.

**Buslady Of SoCal: **Oh, I totally agree. She and Raph should have made out and become the cute little couple we all wanted them to be. She was such a little flirt! (ponders how the reaction between Raph and Mona Lisa will be in the Misadventures universe). Oh, this could get interesting. Because we all know that Austin is going to be very jealous if someone tries to make a move on her man.

**Reinbeauchaser:** Muahahah! You'll notice that I sidestepped THAT little issue by conveniently going backwards in time, rather than forwards. (evil little grin) Adair shall not make a physical appearance in this story either. Although, by the end of Mona Lisa Smile, there will be another character that you'll hate just as much. I know I do, and I haven't even written her yet.

**Pretender Fanatic: **Haha! Actually, you DON'T get to meet Adair yet! Because I'm evil and wanted to tease you all. (grins) And as for the Mona from the cartoon, she was pretty much just like I described her in the first chapter. Green lizard girl (with a yellow front/belly), and brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. And she always wore this little pink scarf around her neck. She actually reminded me of a 50's poodleskirt girl… without the poodleskirt… or the blouse… or the saddle shoes. ...so.. uh… yah. Hope that made sense. My Mona Lisa does wear clothes though, because she still has certain (ahem) human parts.

**sporksareweird:** Ahh, the timeline question. The first chapter takes place right about at the same point in time that Misadventures ended. And you'll soon discover that Adair actually didn't have his hand in this twisted little project. Someone else equally evil and disturbing was responsible for Mona Lisa's mutation. …I really need to stop making these evil twisted characters that people hate. Soon they're going to outnumber the amount of good characters I have. In fact, one of my bad characters is currently a 'good' character… y'all just don't know it yet. …Oops! I said too much! My bad!

**The REAL Cheese Monkey**: Hehe. As soon as Mona Lisa Smile ends, then I'll start posting the sequel. I think I've finally just decided to call it "Further Misadventures (of the Mentally Unstable)", for lack of a better title. :)

**Chibi Rose Angel:** (points to the above responses for more descriptions of Mona Lisa and information on the Misadventures sequel) Hehe, sometimes you just tired of typing the same thing over and over. So I'll be mean and make you wade through all my comments. Oddly enough, one of the characters I miss most of all from the original series was Irma. I loved Irma… she was so spiffy. All geeky and clumsy and unlucky in love… reminds me a lot of myself. Hehe.

**Trillian4210:** I didn't know about the double-header thing, and I don't think I ever saw the "Lost Episode" one you talked about. …I very much want to go back and see it now. Cause I'm such a geeky fangirl. Part of me cringes at how corny the old cartoons were compared to the new ones… and the other part of me is just like "Turtles! Any shape or form, it DOESN'T MATTER!"

And yes… you bring the thing I wondered if anyone else would catch. (grin) Raph, Mona Lisa, and Austin… gonna be a bad combination, isn't it? Heheh

**Isis-Lament:** I thought over a lot of characters, and _almost_ went with Venus. I've never actually watched the Next Mutation series, but I did like the idea of a girl turtle. Then I remembered Mona Lisa! And figured she was an even better choice! I like the idea that she used to be human, instead of lizard. And she was just so dang cute.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Mona Lisa, or Professor Perry. Or the other two characters that are obviously not mine. Lee Tamako is my creation though.

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the shortness of this chapter. Not much is happening at this point in time, but what _is_ happening _is_ extremely important. …At least to me. If y'all don't think so, then pooey on you.

Two more familiar characters will pop up in this chapter (hint hint). But I don't know if I'll use them in Misadventures or not. But watch as I completely twist around yet ANOTHER two backgrounds to fit my needs. …I seriously think my universe makes way much more sense than the real one though. …But I'm also insane.

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**Mona Lisa Smile**

**Chapter 3**

_**Approximately eighteen years ago**_

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"Jordan?"

Professor Jordan Perry fingered the pen idly in his hand as he stared off into the nothingness that looked an awful lot like a printed spreadsheet tacked onto the lab wall. There were numbers and equations typed on the paper that very few people in the world could actually decipher; and despite having been staring at it for the last half hour, Perry had yet to read a single line of the sheet. It's not that he couldn't understand it... on the contrary, he understood it much too well. He'd written it, as a matter of fact. The notes scribbled all over it in his own handwriting were almost as unintelligible to other people as the equations themselves.

The past three years of his life had been dedicated to the results that now hung on the lab wall and that were also sitting in five large canisters on the far side of the laboratory. There were twenty more canisters sitting down in a locked and secured vault, two floors below.

"Jordan?"

Oblivious to the voice speaking to him, Professor Perry started tapping the black Bic pen on the surface of his desk as he thought of his daughter. The girl was seven years old now, and every day she grew more intelligent; more curious. With that curiosity though, came a desire for companionship and more than just a father could provide. Mona needed friends. She needed to go to school. She needed her _life_ back. For three years now, she'd been sheltered away from society; a mutated child that had done nothing wrong to earn the horrible fate that had been forced on her. Jordan Perry loved his daughter; that would never change. But he longed for the day when she would be human again, and didn't have to live in fear every day of her life.

Not that she lived in fear now. She was happily oblivious to how the world would view if her they knew. Mona remembered being human… but she didn't _understand_ what had been done to her. After finding his daughter again and stealing her away from the lab she'd been a prisoner in, Perry had tried to make her life as normal as possible, while at the same time searching for a way to reverse what had been done. Reverse the treatment and make her human again.

And that answer might lie within the codes and equations of the paper in front of him.

"JORDAN!"

He dropped the pen to the desk in surprise and shook his head to clear the fuzziness of his thoughts away. Turning toward the voice that had been calling for him, he stole a quick glance at the glowing canisters lining the wall.

"Yes, Lee?" The calm tone of his voice seemed to almost reprimand the harsh volume of his colleague's.

"You've been staring at that paper for almost an hour! We need to make a decision."

"I just need more time, Lee."

Professor Lee Tamako sighed heavily and shook his head. "You've had two months. We've been through this before, Jordan. It's either going to work, or it isn't. But we've both agreed if you're not going to use it, it needs to be destroyed."

"I need to be sure… if it's going to hurt her then I just can't…"

"There's no way of knowing what it will do to her, Jordan. You've run every damn test you can think of a hundred times, and the results are just too random. You want my opinion? Get rid of it. It's too dangerous of a substance; too unstable. We need to start fresh; we need to proceed from a different angle."

"And what do we do with _them?_" Jordan gestured to a small playpen that had been erected in the corner of the lab. There was no movement from inside, but they could both make out the sleeping forms of the two infants that lay inside. "We can't just… kill them."

Standing slowly, Jordan moved the black pen away from the edge of the desk where it wouldn't roll off. His cloth covered shoes made very little sound on the hard laminated sound as he moved closer to the little play area. It had been hastily erected by himself and Lee when they'd realized what was happening with the test subjects, and so far they were the only two who even knew of the creature's existence. Although Professor Perry could hardly think of them as 'creatures' anymore. They were infants. Children. And thanks to the glowing green ooze in the canisters on the far wall, these two children were destined to be mutants, just as his daughter was. The only difference being that it was _because_ of his daughter that these two existed.

The green formula that he had hoped would restore Mona's humanity had indeed given human attributes to the two test animals in what resembled an amazing evolutionary leap. But what would it do to Mona? He just didn't know and was afraid to test it on her. After all she'd already been put through, how could he justify doing anything more to Mona when he wasn't sure if it would even work?

The unexpected, yet amazing results of the first test were something to be proud of; something that would earn him worldwide fame and fortune if ever made public. Going public, however, was the last thing on Professor Perry's mind. Tamako was right… the evidence needed to be destroyed. The files erased; the ooze destroyed; and the children… the children would need to be hidden away somewhere where they could live their lives in peace and safety. But where? That was the question that had been burning in both Professor Perry's and Professor Tamako's minds. Where could they hide two human-like animals where they'd be protected, and not feared or hated?

"I never said we needed to kill them." Lee stood from where he'd been sitting at his own computer and walked over to join Perry as he looked down at the infants. "I've been thinking… I have a cousin in Japan."

There was a soft whimper and a shifting of blankets. A small green hand appeared from where it had been buried beneath the coverlet and Jordan reached down and softly hushed the little girl. Fatherly instincts had taken over the instant he realized that in a way… these were his children. The last two months had been filled with many sleepless nights as he and Lee tried to care for the babies as best they could. They were smart, and growing exceptionally fast; too fast. The mutations had occurred almost overnight, and had continued for a few weeks. Now though, their small bodies had seemed to finish changing, and they resembled small humans with animal characteristics, much like Mona.

The little girl was a turtle. Small, green, bald, and unbearably cute. A love of art had prompted him to give Mona Lisa the name that he had… and it had inspired the name of his newest 'daughter' as well. Little Venus de Milo hardly resembled the Grecian goddess that shared her name, but the name had just seemed to fit her somehow.

"He follows old ways… living out in the country on a small farm." Lee continued when Perry didn't speak. "The only other human contact he has is a supply cart that travels to his land once a year. Other than that… his home is completely isolated. He's surrounded by forests and mountains."

"Can you trust him?" Perry knew exactly what was being offered without Lee having to spell it out for him. And there was no where else he could think of that would be safe for his two children.

"Yes."

Jordan nodded softly and smoothed the blanket over the hard carapace of the sleeping Venus. He reached across the pen and retrieved a small stuffed panda from where it had fallen away from its owner and replaced it in the small furry arms of Venus' companion. If Venus was his daughter, then the small white rabbit boy was his son. Having mocked Jordan's choice of name for the turtle, Lee had insisted he should be allowed to christen the boy rabbit. Usagi had been named for an ancestor of Lee's, and Jordan realized at that point he and Tamako would never agree on proper children's names.

"I think I've been away from home too long…" Lee said softly. "I'll hire out a private boat, and get them to Japan and stay with them for as long as I can, until my cousin fully understands what's going on. He'd never turn them out… he's a good man."

Watching the two infants sleep, Jordan sighed and shook his head softly. "Promise me you'll keep them safe, Lee. Promise me that, and we'll destroy the rest of the experiment. I'll find another way to help Mona."

"I swear it, Jordan. They'll be safe."

Almost as one they turned and looked at the green mutagen on the far side of the lab. Professor Perry closed his eyes and composed himself silently for a moment, then nodded to his colleague. "Call the trucks and have them come out immediately. Have them take all twenty-five canisters to the disposal facility. Make sure they get every single one. I'll take care of the computer records. Let's bury this little secret."

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"Shit!" 

"What?"

"We lost one. One of the canisters must not have been secured properly! We must have lost it when the back door flew open! Dammit, Fred, I _told_ you to check that lock!

The two drivers glared at each other for a second before realizing the severity of the situation. A hazardous waste canister from the TGRI labs had been lost somewhere on the somewhat wild ride through New York City… and they had no idea where it was.

"Shit." Repeated the first man. "Shit. Shit. Shit. They'll have our jobs over this! We don't even know what was _in_ that thing."

"Gimmie the paperwork." The second man said, thinking fast. "How many canisters do you see back there?"

"Twenty-four."

"Me too. How many did we pick up?"

"Twenty-five, o'course. What, you think I'm dumb?"

"Yes. Because I only remember picking up twenty-four." The man holding the delivery sign-off sheet smiled slyly and made a few marks with a pen. "And now _this_ says we only picked up twenty-four. They might have someone's job, but it won't be ours."

Comprehension dawned on the first man's face and he smiled as well. "Yep… Twenty-four. That's how many we picked up."

"Right you are, Gary. Twenty-four."

* * *

Elsewhere in New York, four baby turtles had just started to crawl around in the shattered remains of the TGRI canister, and Professor Perry's little secret was about to grow a lot bigger.

* * *

**End Chapter 3**

Reviews are much appreciated! Please take a moment to leave a comment: good, bad, ugly, whatever. Any flames will be laughed at and then I'll roast marshmallows over them.

* * *

**After the fic Author's Notes**: Holy crap. I had to force this chapter out. I got stuck halfway through and just couldn't put down what I needed to. I seem to be having writer's block lately, and I'm trying to snap myself out of it. 

(giggles insanely) Yes. Venus de Milo and Usagi Yojimbo are now part of the Misadventures Universe. Because I felt like it, and it's my story and I can do it if I want to. So there. And now you know how the mutagen came into existence. So really, if it weren't for Mona, the turtles wouldn't have been mutated. Interesting, huh? I thought so. I wonder if they'll ever meet up and figure it all out…?

BTW, for those who follow Misadventures, I finally posted the Soundtrack to the LJ.

**Notes to my Reviewers**:

**Reluctant Dragon:** Yes, I do tend to leave lots of questions unanswered don't I? (reads over the chapter) Not so many here though… except for 'whatever happened to Venus and Usagi?' The world may never know!

**misterfooch: **As you can see, I've decided to rewrite Venus' origin as well. I'm hoping I can play with her more in the future and bring her into my world more fully. We'll have to see though. :) Since I never saw Last Mutation, I'm going to have to fudge her characterization a bit though. I want to keep everyone as true to form as possible, despite changing backgrounds.

**Reinbeauchaser: **First off, I was glad to get your e-mail! I'd been keeping your son in my thoughts and sending well wishes out to him. I'll continue to do so, as long as it's needed. :)

As for your review: (snickers) 'smell metallic thump'. I almost like that better, just cause it's kinda funny. But yes, indeed, it was supposed to be 'small'. My bad. :)

I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long! I felt so bad that I just couldn't get this chapter out. Hopefully the next one will be easier. (I posted a notice to the LJ about my work schedule changing. I'm not sure how it's going to affect my writing, but hopefully I'll be able to work something out, and still get chapters posted on time, so y'all don't have to wait as long.)

**Trillian4210: **(grins) Oh, I've got lots of little plots floating around in my head for the interesting relationships that will form between Austin, Mona, Raph, and Don. …And that's all I'll say about that right now. Don't want to give too much away. ;)

**Isis-Lament:** Yes, I'm a bad, bad person. Because you won't learn Mona Lisa's fate until Further Misadventures gets published! Muahahah! Don't worry though. I've only got 2 or 3 more chapters to go on Mona Lisa Smile, and then the sequel will be posting! Alas, that was not what I was referring to when I said y'all would hate me. There's something much more… um… interesting in store for my characters. Sooner or later. I'm so vague, it must be frustrating. :)

And as for the 'her' mentioned… you'll find that out next chapter!

**Chibi Rose Angel: **As far as I know, Professor Perry was created just for the second movie. At least, I'm not aware of him existing in the comics or cartoon. I don't know if either of them had family, so I decided just to make them father and daughter in my universe. So don't worry, you weren't mistaken! I just like confusing people is all!

**kaya lizzie:** Yah, I see a lot of people don't remember Mona Lisa very much. But she was only in one episode, which made me kinda sad. It was like, "Hey! Another mutant!" and then… you never hear about her again. (sighs) Oh well. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! And I'm glad you're still reading my stuff! (beams)

**Dierdre:** Ack, don't feel bad about reviewing. I still haven't done like.. what, 5 chapters of yours? On the positive side though, I haven't read them yet either. If you can count that a positive… I didn't want to read them until I was sure I'd have time to review, and well… I haven't had time yet! I haven't read any fic in like… two weeks! And it's kind of depressing! I miss my turtle fix! I'll need to get on that soon. I've missed some good stuff from the looks of things…

Anyway, sorry it took so long to get this chapter out! Like I said before (somewhere), life has been getting in the way lately, so I've been slacking. (new boyfriends will do that to you) Hopefully I'll get on the ball though, and get things rolling soon. I'm itching to start Further Misadventures, hopefully soon!

Thanks everyone!


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